Remember way back to your first paycheck. The moment you open the envelope anticipating the windfall when all your hard work pays off. Then, like a swift kick to your gut, realty hits. Your takeaway earnings are almost always way lower than what you expected.

Next to the IRS, the most formidable and intimidating institutions people will face are the insurance companies and the medical care complex. Both are at the root of increasing medical costs and both are intent on making sure their bottom lines are forever expanding. Never mind that high medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcies in the U.S.

Most people are familiar with the basic concepts of life insurance and understand that some level of protection is a necessary part of modern financial life. The question of what life insurance can actually accomplish, when considered as part of an overall financial plan, is more involved and worth a closer look.

One of the first lessons of finance we are taught, by our parents or through some basic personal finance course, is to make creating an emergency fund our top priority. Having a reserve of cash equivalent to six to 12 month’s worth of living expenses is considered the most fundamental principal of financial security.

An estate takes lifetimes to build but can be lost in the blink of an eye. Most of us don’t imagine assets that took decades to accumulate being drained in a few short years, but in some cases this is exactly what happens. Here are some of the top risks to an estate and some easy ways to manage those risks.

In recent years it would be difficult to read any financial newspaper or website without seeing headlines about “alternative investments”. This term is rarely defined by media accounts but seems to encompass hedge funds, private equity, infrastructure investments, as well as real estate.